Economics Student Wins Federal Reserve Bank Writing Contest

Mankato, Minn. – Minnesota State University, Mankato student Ozlem Barin, a junior from Tekirdağ, Turkey, recently was notified that her research paper, “An Analysis of Labor, Infrastructure, and Education Issues Brought by the North Dakota Oil Boom,” was awarded first prize in the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Finance Undergraduate Writing Competition, 2012.

The first prize award includes an internship at the Community Development Finance Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis during the summer of 2013. The Federal Reserve will also publish Barin’s paper in July 2013.

Barin was earlier named one of three finalists for the award. The competition was open to all undergraduate students in the states of the Ninth Federal Reserve District (Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, 26 counties in northwestern Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan). Students entering the contest were required to address public policy issues raised by the effects of the North Dakota oil boom on area residents.

Barin, who is majoring in economics, is in her third semester as a transfer student at Minnesota State Mankato.

Barin’s research was supported through a Minnesota State University, Mankato Foundation, Inc. Award ($1,000 stipend), and her research was completed under the supervision of Assistant Professor of Economics Ihsuan Li.

Barin’s honor represents the fourth undergraduate research award (at state, regional, and international competitions) by Minnesota State Mankato economics majors during the past two years. The Department of Economics is part of Minnesota State Mankato’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

For additional information, please contact Ihsuan Li, assistant professor of economics at Minnesota State Mankato, at 507-389-5753, or by email at ihsuan.li@mnsu.edu.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 15,413 students, is part of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, which comprises 31 state institutions.